You Lie, I Know You Do!

I do.

I have to be honest. I lie a lot more than I would like to admit too. Isn’t that kinda like lying? I am so funny. How honest are you? I bet you are saying I don’t tell lies.

I am reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s new book Little Teal Book of Trust. He makes an interesting point.

Being honest when you’re dealing with others is easier to do because your honesty is on the table for all to view.

Being honest with yourself is more difficult because you only have to justify it in private where no one can see it.

It is easier to tell the truth when you know you will get caught; however, when you know you can get away with it, now that is a different story. Gitomer challenges his readers to think about how they lie to themselves. It is easy to do because we have no one to justify our actions too.

I lie to myself. How? By being dishonest about the consequences to my choices.

“One more piece won’t hurt.”

“Just one more time.”

“Dummy!”

“Your just not good enough.” (This one is the worst)

Lying to myself is hurting me. I want to lose weight and know I cannot unless I put the chocolate down. I want to be more positive but can’t unless I stop filling my mind with doubt. It does hurt when we lie to ourselves. It makes us disappointed, think down on us and feel guilty. To add insult to injury, we let God down.

Gitomer writes,

Becoming honest with yourself takes a hell of a lot of courage – because it means doing the right thing when no one’s looking. There’s pride in honesty. There’s pride in being honorable.

and

A big part of honesty is self-discipline, personal resolve, and taking pride in who you are as a person and what each action means to your character.

Everything you do either adds or takes away from who you are. I am either building myself up by putting good things and thoughts into me or tearing down by putting bad things and thoughts into me.

22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,

23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.  Romans 7:22-25

When I look in the mirror and stare into my own eyes. I see a man I know everything about. I can remember all the lies I have ever told myself. Then I remember, “Thanks be to God.” I have been set FREE! The old lies don’t count anymore.

13Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

Now I can go and stop telling lies. God bless.

The Power of Weakness

The weak will be strong.

Sound foolish? You bet it does. No one wants to be weak. I mean intentionally. We try very hard to apeer strong, stoic, and unyielding. After all that is true power. I do not want you to see me cry, to blush in shame, to admit my failures and defeats. I refuse to let the secrets of my life leak out of the walls I have built to protect my honor and pride.

No, I will not be weak! And I lie too.

The only real problem with my strength is I know it is false and everything I am doing to perpetuate the illusion of strength is a lie. Lies all lies.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I cannot fully explain what Paul is completely saying here. I do not know what his thorn was. Don’t think it important or he would have told us what it is.

Consider this. God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Power, what power? His forgiveness, his love, his mercy. His capacity to shape and mold us into the men and women he calls us to be. When God’s strength rests on me, what do I care about my weaknesses? When God has forgiven my sin, what do I care about my past? When God has set me free from my past, how much higher can I soar in the future?

It is only when I step aside and let God take control can I then look back and see how powerful and wonderfully God has worked in my life.

Isn’t it great to be weak? God bless.

What is on Your Mind?

What do you spend time thinking about? Here is my list,

What am I going to eat for lunch, how cold is it outside, what is on CNN and Fox-News, is everyone going to be at work, will I be late for work, are the phones going to be busy at work, is it time for lunch yet, will my coding be right, are we making enough money, work harder, am I too stressed out at work, am I eating right, is the family safe, will I be able to leave work on time, will the traffic be bad on the way home, what is for supper, I have to walk the dog, and the list goes on and on and on.

What is on your list? One thing that strikes me is how little time I spend thinking about, meditating on and talking to God. I just forget. I believe that is a very distinctive characteristic of the human race. We forget. Oh, we never forget to eat, sleep, basically anything we want to do for ourselves. Yes, I think that is it, if it is something we want or is good for me I do not forget. However, if it is for someone else then I just may forget.

Paul wrote in Philippians trying to remind Christians to stay focused. He wrote,

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

Left to myself I tend to start thinking in the wrong directions. I worry, stress, daydream, and generally wonder all over the spectrum of life’s cares. I need to spend time mediating on the word. I know you do too.

God bless. Stay in the word.

Way of Life Village: Longing

I found a new blog this week and wanted to share. This is a Phil’s post Longing…

O how I long for everyone to discover our God and what he is like!  Surely we will all fall in love (all over again?) with him who first loved us, and fall down before him, choosing to completely obey the King of kings, the only One worthy of our allegiance.  Come on, let us join our Creator in his mission to re-create this precious world back to its original beauty and intended purpose!  Let’s join him now!

The work they are doing and the blog entry made me think of Paul’s attitude about reaching the lost. Romans 10:1 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.” I think this is exactly the attitude Phil, Meredeth, Ed, and Katie have working in East Hollywood, CA.

May God bless their work. Check out their blog.

Die, Endure, Confess, be Faithful

If we die with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him to stay faithful. This short poem, Paul called it a trustworthy saying, reminded Timothy of some basic truths of the early Christian faith.

I suppose the early Christians may have memorized and repeated this poem to one another for encouragement.

Die & live

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4

Endure hardship

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Confess don’t deny

“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. Luke 12:8-9

God is faithful

True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,

“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.” Romans 3:3-4

Please forgive my taking this verse out of context a little. However, my point is, even when due to hardship and struggle we feel faithless, God will never give up on us. When He makes a promise it cannot be broken.

The early Church knew they had to stick together and they did. Encouraging one another to remain faithful to the end.

God bless. Die, endure, confess, be faithful.

If God is for Us…

Who is in your corner? Who is on your team? It makes all the difference doesn’t it? We want winners not losers. Well guess what, God is on our side! If God is on our side who can stand against us?

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Romans 8:31-34

God held nothing back in his effort to save you and me. He loved us so much he sent His son to die in our stead. Why do we forget this? Why do I worry about life, fear the unknown, and fret over what could happen? I should not do this!

• If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
• If God has chosen us for his own, who dares accuse us?
• If Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us and is pleading for us, who will condemn us?

The answer: NO ONE!

God bless, be on the team.

Are You Watching?

“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’

“All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’

“But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’

“But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return. Matthew 25:1-13

This parable contains two elements, warning and encouragement. The warning is God will close the door. Those caught unprepared will be told, “I don’t know you!” I do not want to be there. However, to those prepared, who have made themselves ready, there is the promise to enter the marriage feast.

There are two choices that can be made from God’s Word. So often we choose the see the negative and focus on it. We focus on the punishment, the struggle, and the price we think must pay. We see what we cannot do instead of the opportunity of God’s blessing. It is so easy to take life as it comes and just get by.

Christ calls us to a higher level. He says keep watch, be ready, stay the course. The way of Christ requires preparation, vigilance, perseverance, and hope. Hope does not disappoint us. Neither does God.

God bless

Scripture taken from the New Living Translation

The Convenient Christ

What happens to a group of men try to invoke Jesus’ name to cast out demons? They get preached to by the demon!

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:11-16

I know if I had been there I would not have thought this funny. However, I am sure the local Christians got a good chuckle and then they probably took a very serious look at their relationship with Jesus. I really believe that being a Christian is all about our life. Being Christ like, faithful, trusting, obeying, living a life of submission to God. I cannot help but wonder if I am trying to invoke Christ instead of living Christ.

That was the mistake these Jews made. They did not believe in Jesus. They just wanted to use his power without all the trouble of really being Christians. You can really see that in what they said to the demon possessed man. They said “I command”, they referred to Jesus and even Paul but they were not of Christ.

I know I am stretching this verse a lot. I am sorry. Today, I see a world that want a convenient Christ. One that we can use when we are in trouble, a name to invoke when the baddies are around. We do not want to be inconvenienced by a God who wants to have a relationship with us. Who wants us to get to know Him, spend time with Him, and actually change our behavior for Him! (What could he be thinking!)

Lord, forgive me for wanting a convenient relationship. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and have fellowship by sharing in his sufferings. I want to become like Christ in his death and by doing, somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead. Amen. Philippians 3:10-11

God Bless

Saul, Did What?!

I am sure this was the question asked by the High Priest that sent Saul to Damascus. Can you imagine how shocked and disappointed he men was when he found out his poster boy had jumped ship.

When we first meet Saul in Acts chapter 7 he was on the side of the Elders and leaders of the Jews. He was watching everyone’s stuff while folks watch Stephen being killed.

Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. Acts 7:58 – 8:1

Then in Acts 9

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Acts 9:1-2

Paul describes himself in his early days as a really good Jew.

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. Philippians 3:4-6

All that changed when he met Jesus. Saul became Paul and instead of “breathing out murderous threats,” Paul became the preacher. Not to take the message to his beloved Jews but to the world of Gentiles. At the end of Acts 9 we find the Jews asking them selves a very good question.

All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 9:21-22

Paul confesses this of Christ during one of his sermons in Acts.

As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. Acts 17:2-3

Jesus the Christ. The Son of God who changes people. Regular people like you and me. If we let him.

God bless

Lessons from a Child #3

Daddy, when will you stop loving me?

My youngest daughter asked me this question while we were watching Phil Collins sing Can’t Stop Loving You. While the song is not really about loving our children, I could not help get all mushy holding my little girl and thinking about all the life between now and when one day she will leave home.

Her question still echoes in my mind. “Daddy, when will you stop loving me?”

I said, “Sweet heart, I will never stop loving you.”

It absolutely blows me away when I think of God loving me. “Father, when will you stop loving me?”

His answer…

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. For neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from My love that is in Christ Jesus your Lord. I will never stop loving you.

Think about it. Be blown away by it. Believe it.

Thoughts and Scripture take from Hebrews 13:5 & Romans 8:38,39